PODCAST · religion
Device & Virtue
by Chris Ridgeway & Adam Graber
Chris & Adam argue the wrongs and rights of technology and faith in everyday life—from A.I. to Facebook to DNA tests—and how a Christian might live in the middle.
Episodes
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S10E5—Hope: NASA, Television, and Living the Story of the Future
*Fixed audio release* Today we're watching the Artemis II, but in the 1960s, our parents watched humanity land a man on the moon from their living room TV. It was a new era of hope, but it somehow disappeared. Can technology make us hopeful people? This episode recorded in March 2026, before the...
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S10E4—Friendship: From Christian Community to AI Companions
Aristotle called friendship a virtue. Mark Zuckerberg made “friending” a verb. Next up: AI companions—What happens when they listen better than your fellow Christians? Loneliness is being called an epidemic, even as we’re “connected” all day. Online spaces reward hot takes over hospitality, and...
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S10E3—Humility: Can Enhanced Humans Imitate Jesus?
Can we live humbly and still post that photo on Instagram? In the digital age, humility isn't so straightforward. With the smartphone at our fingertips, is pride just one selfie away? Many of tech’s biggest names have been anything but humble. Tesla, Edison, Jobs, Zuckerberg, Musk. Does that mean...
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S10E2—Temperance: When Losing the Pleasure is Painful
The word "temperance" may make us think of prohibition, but this virtue isn't some outdated legislation. Today's technologies are creating all new challenges. Should we be prohibiting them now? It’s the season of Virtues! We’re exploring the old-school virtue of Temperance—including how a...
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S10E1—Simplicity: Can Our Devices Lead to Virtue?
Can we live simply without tossing our smartphone-life in the trash? We found answers in Sister Act II and walk-in closets. This season, we're doing something new, and it begins with the virtue of Simplicity. We live in a complex world. Can technology help simplify it? Or does it only make things...
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A Twist for Season 10
Wow, we've got a new set of episodes coming our way—and Adam & Chris have decided to unveil a twist—while possible moving even closer to the Platonic ideal of Device & Virtue. Support our new season at https://www.deviceandvirtue.com/patreon Leave us a feedback voicemail at...
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S9E6—Should AI Write Worship Music?
If not, what about our soundboards and electric guitars? If you thought the answer would be straightforward, you don't know us! Adam and Chris deep into the intertwining histories of church music and technology. From early debates over instruments in worship services to the effects of platforms...
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S9E5 - Is Pulpit AI a Sermon Killer?
NEW THIS SEASON! Leave us a 90-second voice message about this episode. We may feature it in a future segment! Pulpit AI could save your church hours of social media work every week. Could it kill the sermon in the process? We interview pastor and entrepreneur Michael Whittle. He wants to make…
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S9E4 - Own Or Subscribe? How Software Changed The Way We Pay For Everything
Ownership is not an option. Forget magazines—does it seem like today we subscribe to just about everything? You’re not wrong—from reading books to driving cars—80% of new businesses offer a subscription. Has software changed ownership forever? Chris & Adam explore how technology has changed how…
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S9E3—100 Things We’ve Lost To The Internet
NEW THIS SEASON! Leave us a 90-second voice message about this episode. We may feature it in a future segment! When’s the last time you got a handwritten letter, or stared out the window, or went on vacation without checking email? Did the Internet kill the good ol’ days, or is this just…
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Short Circuit: Threads 'R Us (Chris)
THREADS is the all new social network launched by the founders of Facebook, and it launched big and fast—over 100 millions accounts in the first week. Chris reflects on how social networks work like societal mirrors, and reflect some of the same issues that vexxed the early Christian church.…
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S9E2 — Life-Changing Tech? How Would We Know? Feat: Apple Vision Pro
NEW Leave us a 90-second voice message about this episode. -- This month, Apple announced the new Vision Pro headset. 10 years from now, will we look back and say it changed our life? Can we ever know whether something is a Flop or the Future? Think about it. When they first came out, did folks...
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S9E1 — A.I. Cops: Is Crime Predestined?
NEW THIS SEASON! Leave us a 90-second voice message about this episode. We may feature it in a future segment! “Minority Report” was just a movie, right? Well, not anymore. Beat cops from Los Angeles to London are using Artificial Intelligence to forecast tomorrow’s murders. Is every crime...
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S9E0—Featuring You on Season 9!?
Welcome to Device & Virtue, Season 9! Leave Us a Digital Voicemail! Starting this season, *in these show notes* and at deviceandvirtue.com, you can leave us a digital voicemail. We’ve been arguing the wrongs and rights of technology and faith for 4 years. We think it's time you spoke up. If…
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S8E8—People of the Screen—with John Dyer
Christians used to be known as "people of the book." Do we lose something big if we become the "people of the screen"? From Moses to Gutenberg to YouVersion App, we’re talking the digital bible with our guest John Dyer. Chris talks with John about his newest book People of the Screen. We explore...
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S8E7—ChatGPT: The Tech Shift of our Lifetime?
“Hey Chat GPT, write a script for a podcast arguing the wrongs and rights of technology and faith…” Could AI write that? The shocking answer is… it’s close. Maybe a full yes. The revolution of Artificial Intelligence chatbots got a rocket boost in the last months when on Nov 30, 2022, OpenAI...
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S8E6—Tracking Tech & Faith for a Decade—with John Dyer
Device & Virtue friend & author John Dyer jumps on the podcast talking about the 10 11 year updated edition of his book From the Garden to the City. Wow, a lot changes in a decade! Ten years ago, nobody knew what Zoom was, and online church meant having a Facebook page. No matter how fast tech...
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S8E5—Does Twitter Survive 2023? A Birdseye View Of The “Public Square”
Who hasn’t heard about Twitter these days? With all the controversy, Adam & Chris are talking about how private tech becomes a “public square”—and does Twitter have a future in 2023? Big Questions What is “free speech”? What is the idea of the public square and how does it relate? How has the…
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S8E4 - Building Memory—Featuring the Embedded Church Podcast
Stained glass, digital photos, or a pile of rocks. Today, we join the co-hosts of the Embedded Church podcast and talk about how the church builds memories. It’s a podcast inside a podcast. Memories help people establish identities and build communities, and physical places are fertile ground…
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S8E3 - Turning Devices Into Instruments—with Andy Crouch
Author Andy Crouch says that we’re doing it all wrong—smartphones aren’t giving us the life we’re looking for. We asked him how to fix it, plus whether he’d ever own a robot dog. Andy is our first returning guest to Device & Virtue! This time, he joins us to talk about his new book, The Life…
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S8E2 - Metaverse Church vs Analog Church—with Pastors DJ Soto & Jay Kim
Can you strap on VR goggles and go to church in the metaverse? We asked the author Jay Kim of Analog Church and the pastor DJ Soto of Virtual Reality Church to argue all the wrongs and rights. Finally, an episode where Adam & Chris aren’t the ones doing all the fighting! To be fair both these…
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S8E1 - The AI Artist “DALL-E”: Now Everything Is Unique
Vincent van Gogh spent decades perfecting his impressionist style. You can master it in one minute with the new AI art generator called DALL-E. Do we even need artists any more? DALL-E 2 is an artificial intelligence image generator released to the public on Sept 28, 2022. Considered by experts…
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S7E8 - Gas vs Electric Cars: The Tech Choices We Do and Don’t Have
Gas prices went crazy this year. Are electric cars actually better? This is the one where Adam tries to decide whether to buy an electric car. In the age of Tesla, is it the right choice? Where did the choice even come from? Adam and Chris take a look at the key issues that could help us decide....
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S7E7—Conscious Robot Dogs And God’s Sovereignty—With Wired Columnist Meghan O'Gieblyn
Is a computer actually like the human brain? And is God’s wisdom as mysterious as an AI’s black box? We host Wired columnist Meghan O’Gieblyn with fascinating conversation through sentience, suffering, God’s sovereignty—and of course, AI robotic dogs. Meghan O'Gieblyn is the author of God Human...
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S7E6 - Answering Google's Autocomplete Questions
You know that Thing where they ask celebrities to answer popular questions from Google autocomplete? Yeah... that’s what we’re doing today. Every day, people google their questions about technology. In this episode, Chris & Adam set the record straight and answer some of the most popular…
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S7E5 - The Digital Prophet: Marshall McLuhan—with Nick Ripatrazone
When Wired magazine started, they did the weirdest thing a tech magazine could do—they picked a patron saint. Was Marshall McLuhan a digital prophet? Chris interviews Nick Ripatrazone, author of Digital Communion: Marshall McLuhan's Spiritual Vision for a Virtual Age (2022). Nick is the Culture...
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S7E4 - Does Slack Make Work Better?
Do you use Slack at work? Is your email inbox overflowing? Has any of this tech made our work better? Workplace tech has grown a lot… from memorandums to fax machines to email to Slack! So are we all more efficient? Or more overwhelmed? Workers check their email every 6 minutes. Slack users check...
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S7E3—Ukraine's Invisible Story: Is Digital War Real Violence?
The war in Ukraine has tanks in the streets, but don’t miss the invisible weapons—hackers from both sides are launching online attacks. Chris & Adam ask a really subtly perplexing question: is digital war violence? BIG TOPICS INCLUDE This episode floats into all sorts of things: The 31 year old...
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S7E2 - What Christians Are Getting Wrong About Tech, With Tony Reinke
Author Tony Reinke thinks Christians have made a wrong turn with technology, and he is out to steer us right. We’re coming along for the ride. We interview Tony Reinke, author of the new book God, Technology, and the Christian Life, exploring how humanity’s innovation relates to God’s purposes.…
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S7E1 - Hits & Flashbacks. Episode 50!
CELEBRATING 50 EPISODES 50 technologies. 50 arguments. 50 episodes. After 6 seasons, we’re celebrating with clips from our greatest hits. Get ready for flashbacks. We dug into the archives, and dusted off a handful of clips that have stuck with us, going all the way back to Season 1! We add some...
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Announcement! Season 7 Preview + Patreon Launch
New! We are launching www.patreon.com/deviceandvirtue and have a goal to have 50 listeners become brand-new members of our DV crew! We need you! (And join by May 2 for a special bonus!) Special message from Adam + Chris: "Hey there! We love our listeners! You're smart. You notice the tech around...
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S6E8 - Creating Alexa: Interview with Inventor Jeff Adams
Does he use Alexa in his own house? We've got a interview with the founder of Alexa, Jeff Adams. MORE QUESTIONS INCLUDE What’s the story of how Alexa came about? How does your faith affect your work in technology? What are the next big things coming with voice technology? PLUS, CHRIS & ADAM...
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S6E7 - For-Profit Prayer Apps: Good For The Soul?
SHOULD WE PUT OUR MONEY WHERE OUR PRAYER IS? How do you pray? In the morning? With friends from church? How about with your smartphone? Millions of people already are, and paying a subscription to do so. And Big Tech thinks you will too. Are Prayer Apps good for the soul? Adam and Chris dive into...
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S6E6 - Restless Devices: Interview with Felicia Wu Song
LIVING WITH AN IMMANENT SENSE OF THE DIGITAL Felicia Wu Song is a Christian sociologist who says digital natives aren't as native as we think. Is there any hope for the rest of us? She says, yes. Chris interviews Dr Felicia Wu Song about her new book Restless Devices. She explains her belief that...
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S6E5 - The Rise and Fall of the Expert
WHOSE EXPERTS? WHICH INFORMATION? Doctors and scientists have fallen on hard times. Experts are facing a crisis of trust, and we think technology is a major factor. We explore why on this episode of Device & Virtue. Chris proposes how elders, priests, and magicians gave way to the modern expert,...
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S6E4—How NFTs Could Change the (Real) World
Sometimes a new technology comes along that you’ve barely heard of but could change everything. Like how we OWN things. Adam & Chris are putting the fun in Non-Fungible Tokens—the relatively new digital tech also known as “NFTs” OWN THE NFT FOR THIS DEVICE & VIRTUE EPISODE Are we kidding? No! You...
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S6E3 - The Metaverse
Well. Facebook has announced that their new name is Meta. As in “metaverse.” As in a science fiction nerd-term becoming reality. As in—is this our future?? Chris & Adam laugh and raise eyebrows as they watch Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement of what he thinks future life will be like for...
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S6E2 - Interview: "Wise Phone" Creator, Chris Kaspar
Meet a new smartphone that can’t install apps, doesn’t have Facebook, and that’s why people want it. Does it make life better? Adam interviews Chris Kaspar, founder of Techless and maker of the Wisephone, aiming to change how people relate to their most personal device. They talk about digital...
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S6E1—Is My Smartphone Listening to Me?
Is my smartphone listening to me? Too many creepy stories are out there about suspiciously perfect ads appearing after just a conversation with a friend! So Adam starts getting a little paranoid and tries an experiment with some friends. Then he brings It to Chris to prove that our phone’s...
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Interview: Dr. Darrell Bock: How To Think Biblically About Church In Your Pajamas
Ever seen a Bible professor wear virtual reality goggles? Dr. Darrell Bock is well known in the Biblical scholarship world—he is a past President of the Evangelical Theological Society, New Testament Professor at Dallas Theological Seminary, and pastors know his commentaries on Luke & Acts. But...
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S5E9 - Invasion of the Body Trackers: Apple Watch & The Quantified Self
Do you wear a FitBit? Fitness trackers are producing more data than ever. But how useful are all these charts and graphs? We dig into the spreadsheets of the Quantified Self to see what kind of person we can find in the numbers. Meanwhile, as Big Tech companies hoover up data about our resting...
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Short Circuit: Spiritual Epistemology (Chris)
Why you have to trust in order to know. Learn more about "Lateral reading" sourcing and more with this video series that Chris recommends: https://thecrashcourse.com/courses/navigatingdigitalinfo Skip the argument with our new Short Circuit format! Adam or Chris grabs the mic for a more personal...
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S5E8 - Disinformation: Who Can I Trust Online?
From disinformation to polarization, we hardly know what to believe anymore. And knowing who to believe isn't any easier. Chris and Adam talk thru the marks of conspiracy theories, and how moderation of social platforms may need to get more personal, not less. And how does our Christian faith...
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Short Circuit: Upgrades (Adam)
This week Adam sits down to talk about finding Upgrades in an expected place: The Book of Genesis. Skip the argument with our new Short Circuit format! Adam or Chris grabs the mic for a more personal reflection on technology & faith. These shorter entries are a bonus to our full-length episodes....
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S5E7 - Interview: Andy Crouch & Amy Crouch: My TechWise Life
Can we live more genuine, compassionate, and focused lives online? Well-known Christian author Andy Crouch joins his daughter Amy Crouch for a fascinating conversation on living My TechWise Life: Growing Up and Making Choices in a World of Devices Amy’s book is a follow up to the The TechWise...
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S5E6 - mRNA Vaccines: 2020's Technology of Year
The COVID-19 vaccine might be the technology of the year. But what is it about some new technologies that fuels fear? And where is faith? And are Chris & Adam going to get the vaccine? “If I get the COVID vaccine, am I failing to trust God?” Some Christians will be asking themselves this…
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Short Circuit: LED Christmas Lights (Chris)
Chris takes 5 minutes to talk LED lights for Christmas and what makes them special. Introducing our new Short Circuit format! Skip the argument. Adam or Chris grab the mic for themselves to make any point they want about technology & faith. These short sidebars are in addition to our full length...
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S5E5 - The Social Dilemma on Netflix
Is social media manipulating the world? People are talking about this new scary documentary on Netflix, so Adam and Chris did movie night and are ready to talk it out. (We recommend you watch it first, but you don't have to!) Watch the trailer on YouTube right here. Adam & Chris talk through the...
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S5E4 - Interview: GrubHub Co-Founder Mike Evans
So the founder of GrubHub—the original guy who started the app from his Chicago apartment—just gave us a call. Here’s what he thinks about the ethics of what he made—in this interview with Device & Virtue. Order some takeout, and listen while you wait. When Mike Evans started GrubHub in 2002, he...
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S5E3 - Food Delivery Apps: GrubHub, Ghost Kitchens, and Tacos-On-Demand
Food delivery didn’t start with pizza. It’s as least as old as the Bible. But ordering food is now easier than ever. Food delivery apps are transforming how we find food and consume it like never before. Transforming not just the making and eating, but also space and time. Food has a story and a...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Chris & Adam argue the wrongs and rights of technology and faith in everyday life—from A.I. to Facebook to DNA tests—and how a Christian might live in the middle.
HOSTED BY
Chris Ridgeway & Adam Graber
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Device & Virtue have?
Device & Virtue currently has 85 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Device & Virtue about?
Chris & Adam argue the wrongs and rights of technology and faith in everyday life—from A.I. to Facebook to DNA tests—and how a Christian might live in the middle.
How often does Device & Virtue release new episodes?
Device & Virtue has 85 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Device & Virtue?
You can listen to Device & Virtue on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Device & Virtue?
Device & Virtue is created and hosted by Chris Ridgeway & Adam Graber.
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